Economic analysis of the meltdown, commentary on the emerging economic and ecological order

Friday, March 27, 2009

The Financial Markets, Our New God

Liberated from the tyranny of King George III, having fought back the Axis Powers, the Evil Empire, America once stood for freedom. But there is a new god, and a tyrannical one at that. Paul Krugman writes today "that top officials in the Obama administration are still in the grip of the market mystique. They still believe in the magic of the financial marketplace and in the prowess of the wizards who perform that magic."

Meanwhile, George Soros said to a standing room only, call the fire department, overcapacity crowd at the New America Foundation's economic growth conference yesterday that we are in the midst of a popping "super bubble" one that has been in the making for a generation, enabled by a false ideology, "market fundamentalism." This is a teaser for his latest book, just released, "The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What it Means."

Busy? No time to read the latest books? My favorite economics blog, Calculated Risk, put up a video link of a snippet of a South Park episode that explains economics better than Krugman does. Full episode here, for graduate economics students, click on Margaritaville. Apologies to Jimmy Buffett.

About Me

Passacantando's career has taken him from Wall Street to philanthropy to a leading role in the global fight to stop climate change. He worked for Jude Wanniski -the "high priest" of supply side economics - and is a committed practitioner of non-violent civil disobedience as taught by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. He has a master's degree in economics from New York University, as well as a record of a dozen arrests for engaging in peaceful protest. He has been quoted in every major newspaper, appeared on most major news programs and has served as the whipping boy for environmental issues on Fox News programs.
Passacantando just completed eight years as executive director of Greenpeace USA, the longest serving director in the history of the organization. In addition to select speaking engagements, Passacantando is developing a series of business ventures and working on a book that explains the economic crisis to a lay audience while proposing the development of a modern economy that draws on the creative powers of citizens.